Of water and absence: the female autobiographical subject in La Flor de Lis, by Elena Poniatowska

Abstract

Elena Poniatowska's literary work has an unquestionable autobiographical character, evident in her testimonial novels (Until I Can See your Eyes, My Lord), epistolary works (Dear Diego), historical biographies (Tinisima), or autobiographical fiction (La Flor de Lis). Nevertheless, the latter, rather than placing itself in the classical canon, presents a discoursivity that responds to the feminine autobiographical model. In this manner, this novel not only contributes in profiling the discourse ontological differences that separate the two traditions, but also implements a process of definition that chooses a distance from the authority of Latin American aesthetic-literary discourse, such as Modernismo.